Recreational vehicles (RVs), such as travel trailers, fifth wheels, campers, various other types of trailers, motor homes, and the like, offer users the opportunity to escape the rigors of everyday life and explore the world we live in. In some cases, resembling a small home on wheels, RVs are capable of transporting and comfortably sheltering people for extended periods. One benefit of such an RV is to enhance the camping or traveling experience by providing the comforts of home away from home. Additionally, the occupant is given the option of braving the elements, commonly known as “roughing it,” or retreating to the protection afforded by the RV. Thus, the spirit of “roughing it” may be maintained without deprivation of the full camping experience.
Although freely mobile, as the size of RVs increase, the ease of handling tends to decrease. Additionally, RVs often have dimensional limits dictated by highway regulations or, in the case of a camper, the specific configuration of the truck bed used to hold the camper. Further, other factors may limit the size of the RV (e.g., the capacity of the motor vehicle used to transport the RV or the engine size in a self-powered RV). Responding to the need for more living space inside RVs, various RVs incorporate features such as pop-up tops and/or slide-out rooms for selectively expanding the living area. Designed to be used primarily when the RV is parked, these rooms are typically positioned in the interior of the RV during travel, and are moved outwardly when the RV is parked. Generally, upon parking the RV, the slide-out rooms are moved horizontally to a second position to increase the useable interior space of the vehicle.
Previous systems used to move slide-out rooms on RVs suffer from a number of disadvantages. For example, some previous systems were overly large and complex to install. Others failed to provide the manufacturer and the end user with the desired degree of flexibility during installation and use. Others were expensive to manufacture and difficult to service once installed. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved system for moving slide-out rooms.
Of course, the claims define the scope of the subject matter for which protection is sought, regardless of whether any of the aforementioned disadvantages are overcome by the subject matter recited in the claims. Also, the terms recited in the claims should be given their ordinary and customary meaning as would be recognized by those of skill in the art, except, to the extent a term is used herein in a manner more expansive than its ordinary and customary meaning, the term should be given its ordinary and customary meaning plus the additional expansive meaning, or except if a term has been explicitly defined to have a different meaning by reciting the term followed by the phase “as used herein shall mean” or similar language. Accordingly, the claims are not tied and should not be interpreted to be tied to any particular embodiment, feature, or combination of features other than those explicitly recited in the claims. Thus, the appended claims should be read to be given their broadest interpretation in view of the prior art and the ordinary meaning of the claim terms.